Commentary on political happenings around the nation and locally in Milwaukee, WI.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Deep-Fried Testicle, Anyone?

The blogging on political stuff has been slow this week, so it seemed like a good time to bring up deep-fried livestock testicle eating at an annual festival in Elderon, WI.

The festival just ran for the ninth time this past weekend. Thankfully for the rest of the country (but perhaps not so much for the rest of Wisconsin), the AP was there to capture all of the nutty details.

More than 300 people consumed 100 pounds of $5 all-you-can-stomach deep-fried sheep, lamb, and bull testicles at this year's festival. But what I love most about the AP story is the quotes. You couldn't make up more fitting one-liners if you tried.

According to Buster Hoffman, "Once you get over the mental (aspect) of what you're eating, it's just like eating any other food, and it tastes good."

Ah, I'm not so sure. As Jules from Pulp Fiction put it: "Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherfucker."

But another festival goer struck a similar note as Hoffman, adding: "They taste like chicken nuggets. You just have to get past the testicle part."

Again, I'm not sold. After all, if they taste like chicken nuggets, why not just eat chicken nuggets?

But not everyone agreed with the comparison to chicken nuggets. Butch Joubert, for one, thinks the deep-fried sheep, lamb, and bull testicles are more like meatballs. "After a few beers, you can't really tell the difference," he told the AP.

Festival founder Nancy Fenske said she got the idea for "a nut fry" after a trip to Montana introduced her and her family to the delicacy of lamb fries.

"What else can you do in a small town?" Fenske added.

As an undergrad at UW-Eau Claire, I remember some light-hearted discussions in classes between small towners and city folks about where is better to grow up. I just wish I knew about this Elderon festival and the justification for having it back then.